LPPA Convention Rules
Revised April, 2005 Rev. 1 Article I. Parliamentary Authority Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall be the parliamentary authority for all matters of procedure not specifically covered by these rules. Article II. Officers The incumbent Party Chair and Secretary shall be Chair and Secretary respectively of the Convention. A parliamentarian shall be appointed by the Chair. Article III. Delegates Delegates shall meet the qualifications set forth in Article IX, Section 2 of the Bylaws. The Secretary shall certify the delegates at the beginning of the Convention. Article IV. Challenge of Delegates Any three Party members may challenge any delegate on the basis that he has not been a Party member for the requisite period of the time by notifying the Secretary at or before the Convention. The Judicial Committee shall hear all challenges on the day the Convention convenes and shall immedidately provide a ruling in each case to the Secretary of the Party. Article V. Registration of Delegates Each delegate must register with the Secretary of the Party as reqquired by the Board of Directors. A delegate may not be registered prior to resolution of all challenges in which he/she has been named. Article VII. Voting Procedure Voting will be by voice vote or a show of hands. If ten or more delegates so request or object to the Chair's ruling on the outcome of a vote, a roll call or secret ballot will be held. Article VIII. Debate Procedure During debate in Convention each delegate shall be limited to five minutes on any one issue unless otherwise specified. Article IX. Agenda The business at the Convention shall consist of the following items which shall be conducted in the following order: *Registration *Reports of Party officers *Constitution, Bylaws, and Convention Rules Committee Reports *Resolutions and other business *Elections Party officers *National Convention Delegates and Alternates *Nomination of Candidates for Public Office Article X. Elections Section 1. Nominations shall be from the floor. For each office, a majority vote will be necessary and sufficient for election. In cases where no candidate receives a majority vote on the first ballot, runoff votes will be held, dropping the lowest running candidate after each ballot. Section 2. Unless the delegates at a Convention of the state Party decide otherwise, all members of the Party shall automatically be alternate delegates at the National Convention, but such members shall serve as delegates only if alternate delegates individually elected at the state Convention are already serving as delegates or are not present on the floor of the National Convention. Unless the delegates at a Convention of the state Party decide otherwise, the Chair of the Party shall serve as the Chair of the National Convention delegation. The members of the delegation present shall have the power to determine which alternate delegates shall fill vacancies in the National Convention delegation, subject to the first sentence. Section 3. Vote cast for "None of the Above" shall be considered valid in any nomination or election. Should a majority of the votes be cast for "None of the Above", none of the losing candidates for that position may be selected to fill the vacancy for that term of office, or be nominated for that office in that particular election. In elections or nominations having more than one possible winner, the number of votes received by NOTA shall be divided by the number of winnings positions for which there are candidates. Article XI. Nomination of Candidate for Public Office Section 1. No candidate may be nominated for any office who is ineeligible to serve in that office or who has not expressed a willingness to accept the nomination of the Party. Section 2. Nominees for any office shall be chosen by majority vote. Should no canidate obtain a majority on a ballot, then a new ballot shall be taken. After every second ballot, if no candidate has yet received a majority vote the candidate with the leasd number of votes shall be truck from subsequent ballots. Section 3. No candidate for public office at any level shall be nominated or endorsed who has not signed the statement as described under Article II Section 1 c of the Bylaws. Article XII. Amendments Section 1. These Rules may be amended at any Party Convention. Section 2. Amendments to these Rules will normally take effect at the close of the Convention in which the amendments are adopted. Such amendments may be adopted by a majority vote of the Convention. Section 3. Amendments to these Rules which take effect immediately upon adoption will require a two-thirds vote of the Convention.